cold water aquariums, keeping them cold

[MarineTeng]

what is the cheapest way to keep an aquarium cold, like 50 degrees?

 

[Krish]

I'm not trying to be funny or anything, but what in the world are you trying to keep in 50 degree water? (LOL) What size is the tank? I don't know if there is actually a cheap way to keep a tank that cold. How much are you willing to spend?

 

[Elmo18]

LOl........to find salmon, go to the nearest fishable river?!?!?

Sorry, had to toss that one in.

- Elmo

 

[Blazer88]

I saw someone selling a chiller on Craig's List that was used on a lobster tank, I think that would work. But what in the heck do you want to keep 50 degree water?

 

[Trenchsoul]

But what in the heck do you want to keep 50 degree water?

Probably just native stuff.

 

[clayswim]

Krish, there are places outside the warm tropics you know... lol. In fact looking outside right now it's a brisk 47 degrees F (8.3 degrees C). Our water around here runs about 52.

A chiller is really the only way to reliably keep water that cold. Although some people use an old freezer with tubing running through it; that technique doesn't work all that well for colder temps. You might want to find a good deal on ebay for one; and if you can buy two. The last thing you'd ever want is to have your coldwater tank sitting at 84 in the middle of summer because of a faulty chiller.

Clayton

 

[WaterDogs]

A point to remember is a 50-52*F tank will sweat like crazy indoors at room temperature.

 

[plack]

I will get you the link of someone who HAS BEEN doing it later in seattle SUCESSFULLY

 

[NaH2O]

Hmmm....I thought there were special tanks or chillers to keep tanks that cool. I'll PM Alice, and see if she has any ideas. She went to a presentation at MACNA on cooler temperature tanks.

 

[plack]

here is that link
http://www.seanet.com/~katrinakruse/general_tank_pictures.htm
He's right here in the seattle area ask him!

 

[clayswim]

Thanks for the link Plack, hadn't seen that one yet. There are two kinds of chillers; one for cooling down tropical tanks, and one that can be set to a wide range of temperatures. For example, some Aqua Logic chillers work between 65-85 degrees; which isn't cold enough for a coldwater tank. Other models work between 40-85 degrees; which is perfect. Unfortunately the models which are made for colder operations are also generally more money; as they are usually the bigger units.

Clayton

 

[MarineTeng]

ya they're too much money for me, i've given up on the idea

 

[Alice]

Hmmm....I thought there were special tanks or chillers to keep tanks that cool. I'll PM Alice, and see if she has any ideas. She went to a presentation at MACNA on cooler temperature tanks.

Unfortunately, the talk was more on the type of animals and biotopes that could be created rather than the equipment it took to keep them, so I'm no help at all, lol.

Plack, I hope we hear from the local person who's keeping a temperate tank; there are some really interesting animals in temperate zones!

 

[tamarindthai]

my tank is once up on the time was cold tank 180gals,double glass weight 1/2 ton seem like when took 7 people to set it up,, it came with 1 hp 42 degree chiller,,now is tropical tank and 1hp chiller is used ,,run great..

 

[aquariumdebacle]

i am not so sure about the compressor but the controller definitely needs to be a low range type. An acrylic tank won't sweat as much but you will still need to keep it at about 60 degrees to keep the tank visible at normal room temps. you might consider putting it in a garage or basement where it is cooler to get the tank above the dew point

 

[clayswim]

I agree; acrylic tanks work far better when keeping tanks cool. The thicker the tank wall the better.

Clayton

 

[tamarindthai]

i used my Octopus 3000 controller to control my tank temperature9chiller),,work great and very powerful,,i monitor and cont from sump tank and to sump tank.

 

[steveweast]

I currently run a 120 gal tank and a 50 gal tank ( they have a common sump) that are run with temperate water temps. I run these tanks at 58 -60 F. I originally set up these tanks to house my two male white bar boxfish that come from temperate waters. The tanks and sump are made from 1" thick acrylic and NEVER sweat so much as a drop or even form a film or haze. I use a 1/2hp chiller from pacific coast imports. There are some incredible temperate animals out there....the problem is finding a distributor. I finally found a source in Tasmania that will be shipping me some stuff here in the next couple of weeks. My main goal is to find some corynactus anemones.... sometimes called strawberry polyps....but, it''s quite the challenge. Here's one of my boxfish:

[/IMG]

 

[steveweast]

I've been running these tanks for about 10 months now....and if stock were easier to get (most seem to come from southern Australia), I'd think about converting my warm water reef to cold water. The variety and color of animals out there is incredible. The cold water tanks are sooooo much easier to run. Minimal lighting is needed.....no coralline algae..... no fish disease..... no Ca/alk additions needed..... except for the power required for the chiller, much less power is needed ( high light and high flow is not necessary).

 

[NaH2O]

Wow! Steve, I love that pic!

Minimal lighting is needed.....no coralline algae..... no fish disease..... no Ca/alk additions needed..... except for the power required for the chiller, much less power is needed ( high light and high flow is not necessary)

I never thought about this. Thanks for posting all the info!